Latest News | Centre Must Bear Additional Cost of Coal Imports, Says Power Engineers' Body
Get latest articles and stories on Latest News at LatestLY. The Centre must bear the additional cost of coal imports as it has put "undue pressure" on states to import the dry fuel for blending purpose, the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) said on Wednesday.
New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) The Centre must bear the additional cost of coal imports as it has put "undue pressure" on states to import the dry fuel for blending purpose, the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) said on Wednesday.
The present coal crisis has arisen due to the lack of coordination between central government ministries like power, coal and the railways. Therefore, undue pressure should not be put on states to import coal, the AIPEF said in a statement.
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The power ministry on Wednesday warned that if orders for coal imports are not placed by May 31, 2022 and the imported fuel does not start arriving at power plants by June 15, the defaulter gencos will have to increase their imports to the extent of 15 per cent.
Further, if blending with domestic coal is not started by June 15 then the domestic allocation of the concerned defaulter thermal power plants will be further reduced by 5 per cent, the ministry said in a letter to state governments and power generation companies (gencos), including independent power producers.
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The ministry had earlier advised state gencos to import 10 per cent of coal of their requirement for blending purposes. States were advised to place orders by May 31, 2022 so that delivery of 50 per cent quantity is ensured by June 30, 2022, it had said.
"It is an attempt by the central government to put undue pressure on states. The coal crisis is not the fault of state power generating houses, hence additional cost of coal imports should be borne by the central government," the AIPEF said.
In the statement, AIPEF chairman Shailendra Dubey said the order issued by the Centre today (Wednesday) is "inappropriate and not justified".
He further said that on "one hand, the Centre is claiming that till April the production of Coal in India is higher than the previous year and there is no crisis of coal, on the other hand, the government is saying that power houses should import coal and now this coal import programme has been extended till March 31, 2023."
Most of the thermal power stations in the states are not designed for imported coal, the chairman said, warning that blending of imported coal will increase tube leakages in their boilers.
He further said shortage of railway rakes is being cited as the main reason for the coal crisis. "In such a situation, how this coal will be transported to the thermal power stations located several thousand kilometers away?"
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)